Option Zero: Why Britain should embrace unilateral free trade post-Brexit August 25, 2016 Sherlock Holmes said that, when you’ve exhausted all other possibilities, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. In last week’s column I explained why the assumed roads forward for Brexit (the Norwegian, Swiss, Turkish and conventional World Trade Organisation tariff models) all had major stumbling blocks and should be seen as non-starters. This week [...]
“Brexit means Brexit” means something very different to what people think August 17, 2016 What does “Brexit means Brexit” mean? When Theresa May uttered these words, she almost certainly didn’t know what they will actually mean in practice, and she probably still doesn’t. The conventional wisdom says there are four potential ways forward for the UK. First, stay in the Single Market by remaining in the European Economic Area [...]
Britain can make an Olympian out of its economy with these 10 lessons from Rio August 16, 2016 The Olympics can teach you as much about economics as sport. So here are 10 fundamental economic lessons to take home from Rio: 1. Olympians have fought gladiatorial battles to reach Brazil and the competition is about to get even more intense. In economics, as in sport, competition is critical. The most successful Olympians and the most [...]
Why the post-Brexit economic doom and gloom may have been greatly overdone August 10, 2016 Something quite remarkable happened in the UK economy in June. UK broad money growth M4ex rose 5.8 per cent (year-on-year) – its fastest rate since the introduction of quantitative easing in 2009. Indeed, the growth rate is approaching the 6 per cent baseline for broad money growth that the Bank of England announced was its target [...]
The NHS’s monopoly is weakening – UK healthcare has a bright future October 22, 2014 Monday 7 July started out as any other day for me, but it quickly took a dramatic turn for the worse. Mid-morning, my aorta (the main artery from the heart) tore, and the rest of my life changed. Weeks spent in a hospital bed led me to contemplate the future of the NHS. Will it [...]
Why genuine competition in education will pay a serious growth dividend July 2, 2014 POLITICIANS are obsessive about education, and for good reason. It offers the potential for personal flourishing and faster economic growth, all at the same time. Education secretary Michael Gove has even claimed that “the single most effective way to generate economic growth is [to] invest in human and intellectual capital – to build a better [...]
We need a futuristic vision of genuine capitalism to halt the expanding state June 25, 2014 CAPITALISM is under attack and its defenders need to fight back. Most defences of capitalism begin and end with economic efficiency, and for good reason. The case is overwhelming. Last week, I moved onto the moral case, which is equally compelling. This week, I want to set out the third pillar of the defence, namely [...]
